Poll Technica: should Apple more strictly police app ripoffs on the App Store?

Apple has removed a handful of obvious app copies from its iOS App Store, but …

A screenshot of "Cut the Birds," a strange mishmash knockoff of Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja

Apple has begun to take action against iPhone app ripoffs that have been crudding up the App Store. Over the weekend, the company removed a number of apps that bear a striking similarity to ones that are already popular among iOS users—the list includes Angry Ninja Birds, Plant vs. Zombie, and Temple Jump, which correlate to the popular titles Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, and Temple Run (hat tip to Gamasutra). The move is encouraging to developers who have been struggling with knockoffs attempting to steal their business on the App Store, but there's plenty left to do if Apple wants to show it's serious about tackling the problem once and for all.

Apple's actions as of late, however, indicate that the company may be paying closer attention to shady activity involving the App Store. Last month, the company reportedly sent DMCA takedown notices to Apptrackr, a sort of Pirate Bay for cracked iOS apps, over a handful of pirated app downloads linked from the site. And now with the removal of several app ripoffs from Apple's own store, Apple is taking even further action to curb counterfeits.

"[Temple Jump] was really upsetting to us and damaging to our brand, because we work really hard to put out very high quality polished games and win the love of our fans, and we don't want them to think that we would put out crap to steal a dollar from them," Temple Run creator Imangi told Gamasutra when asked about the takedowns. "The app was clearly a scam that traded entirely on the popularity of Temple Run and was packaged to confuse users."

But these apps are just the beginning. As noted by TechCrunch, even popular app maker Zynga—the company behind Words With Friends and Farmville—has been accused of copying Tiny Tower. And as highlighted by paidContent last October, a strange mashup of Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja called Cut the Birds has also appeared on both the iOS and Android app stores. It seems that despite some token efforts to remove obvious copies here and there, new ripoffs can pop up as fast as the old ones can be taken down.

Is there room for an automated solution to help prevent this, though? Although some developers have expressed a desire for Apple's manual reviewers to look at copies more thoroughly, others acknowledge that this could extend approval times for all apps uploaded to the store. For Imangi's part, the company would prefer the app review process to stay the way it is instead of trading up to a more strictly policed system. What do you think?